


Gallico Amatoribus

by YamiHeart



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, M/M, Magic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, World War I, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5108522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YamiHeart/pseuds/YamiHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three stories, two men, one romance that transcends time and place. Follow Francois Bonnefoy and Mathieu Williams as they meet and fall in love beneath the stars again and again. Written for the 100 Days of Franada Event on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gallico Amatoribus

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the longest and most complex stories I've written in a long time. For a complete experience while reading this, here are some suggestions:  
> Days 44 and 99 have a made up song in them to fit the story. If you want a song to listen to get a feel for the effect I wanted, listen to Nat King Cole's rendition of the song "Smile" for Day 44 and Sara Bareilles' 2014 rendition of the same song for Day 99. Sara's version isn't time-period accurate, but the way she sings combined with the final words spoken by Maya Angelou fit perfectly for the scene.  
> One of the three stories is actually an expansion of the one-shot "Paris is Worth a Mathieu". This one-shot still works with the story line, and if you want to read it I would suggest doing so before Day 56.

Day 1: First Hello  
_The Land of Magicae, Year 7_

 

“Hello?”

“ _Hello_ ,” was the tired reply. “I suppose that you are to be my escort to make sure I do not run off, hm?”

The warrior nodded. “Yes, that is one of my jobs during our trip to Glacé Nord.”

The assassin, focused on restocking his supplies for the coming journey, hummed distractedly. “Lovely. I figured the Queen would send someone with me.” He held up a vial containing clear liquid of some kind and sloshed the liquid around in the light of the sun. “After all, this mission is little more than community service in exchange for being able to keep my head. Is your other job to kill me if things go wrong?”

“What? N-No!” The warrior took a breath to compose his shock at the blunt accusation. “The opposite, actually. I’m...I’m supposed to defend you if things go wrong.”

The assassin snorted. “We shall see, though I assure you that I do not need help in defending myself.”

“I’m also going to be a sort of impromptu navigator,” the warrior continued. “I lived in Glacé Nord for many years before moving to Magicae with my brother to pursue a position in the royal guard.”

“I have been there before. I do not need the help.”

The warrior let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, you don’t have to like me or this situation, but could you least turn around and look at me while we speak.”

The assassin set his vial down. “Fine.”

He turned and was quite surprised to find a young man with honey-golden hair and soft violet eyes. Most of the guards he had seen during his trial were rather crude despite their polished uniforms, but this didn’t give off the same aura as them. He was tall, but not imposing; muscular, but not muscle-brained.

The warrior was surprised in his own way. He had heard the rumors that the assassin was a good-looking man, but the rumors really didn’t do him justice. The assassin was gorgeous! Had he really been released from the dungeons only two days prior? It was hard to believe when his long blond hair looked so luxuriant and his body looked not starved but perfectly lithe.

Shaking away any inappropriate thoughts before they could form, the warrior held out his hand. “Thank you. My name is Mathieu, and I will be your escort to the North.”

The assassin eyed the hand curiously before a smooth smile spread across his lips as he grabbed Mathieu’s hand. “A pleasure, Mathieu. I am, of course, Francois.”

As the pair shook, both couldn’t help but think, _“Well, this could be worse.”_

 

Day 5: First Breakfast in Bed  
_Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1936_

 

Francois was woken up by a sweet smell gently prodding at his nose. A quiet tension instinctively tensed up his muscles as he tried to figure out what was going on. Was it another gas attack? But there was no screaming, no frantic sounds of scrambling out of the ground. Was everyone already dead? Was he dead? He couldn’t recall the ground ever being this soft and, really, the smell that woke him up wasn’t quite right for a gas attack.

A knock sounded from his bedroom door. Ah, his bedroom. He opened his eyes. That was right, he was in his bedroom in his apartment, thousands of miles away from the warzone that had scarred him as much as it had scarred the French countryside.

Still, what was that smell?

“Francois? Are you awake?”

That voice. He knew that voice. It was the voice of the young man he had invited to live with him so that rent payments would be more manageable.

“ _Oui,_ ” Francois called out in response as he fought to unlock his body and sit up in bed. “Is something wrong, Mathieu? What is that smell?”

The handle on the door jiggled briefly before Mathieu entered the room with a tray in his hands. The Canadian was beaming through a blush as he walked over to Francois’ bed.

“I’m hoping you mean these.” He presented a plate of golden pancakes getting soaked in butter and maple syrup. “They’re breakfast.”

Francois was dumbfounded. “Breakfast?”

“Yeah.” He gently placed the tray on the bed next to Francois. “I made some pancakes for you as thanks for letting me live with you here.”

Once Francois’ sleep-fogged mind fully caught up to what was happening around him, he smiled. “ _Mon cher_ , you did not have to do this. After all, it is not like I am letting you stay here for free or anything as kind as that.”

“But you are giving me the best deal in town right now. Besides, I like making pancakes. They’re kind of my specialty back home.”

“Is that so? Well then,” Francois placed the tray in his lap, his smile never breaking. Mathieu was so sweet. “I simply must eat them if they are your specialty, hm?”

“M-Maybe ‘specialty’ wasn’t quite the right word…”

Francois chuckled softly. Adorable and modest, too. Before cutting into his pancakes, he noticed that Mathieu was standing a bit awkwardly besides his bed. He put his knife down, accidentally clinking it against the glass of water Mathieu had also kindly provided him.

“Did you not make any for yourself?”

Mathieu shook his head. “No, I just made them for you.”

Francois snorted. “But I do not wish to eat alone! Come, we shall share!”

Mathieu stared at Francois with wide eyes and didn’t move. Francois, endlessly tickled by his new flatmate’s mannerisms, patted a spot on the mattress besides him. Mathieu hesitated, but in the end he did sit down on the edge of the bed closest to Francois.

“There, now we can eat together.”

Francois smiled at Mathieu, and Mathieu smiled shyly back at him. For the briefest of moments, all of the shadows that plagued Francois fleeted from his mind under the warmth of the sun lighting up the room, the pancakes on his lap, and the smile directed only at him.

 

Day 6: First Time Getting Caught in the Rain  
_Francesco di Paola Island, The 14th Year of the Glorious King’s Reign_

 

There was a certain amount of awe in Mathieu’s gaze as he watched the sea before him churn in the late-autumn storm that had gripped the area. Most nights the light from his lighthouse was a guard searching for sharp rocks and shallow water, but on a night like this his lighthouse became a bright knight battling one of Mother Nature’s darkest monsters. His own mother would have been proud to see him carrying on the family tradition of maintaining the lighthouse and staying up late on nights like this to aid all ships regardless of the flags they chose to wave.

The light passed over the water. Nothing. The light passed over again a few seconds later. Nothing except more gigantic waves. Lightning lit up the sky. The lighthouse scanned the water again. A lone ship bobbed helplessly in the black water.

Mathieu fumbled for his binoculars and focused on what the lighthouse had revealed. Sure enough, there was a ship that hadn’t made it to port yet. All of the shipping and fishing boats within a fifty-mile radius had been accounted for, which meant that this had to be a pirate ship. Mathieu could practically hear his brother, Admiral Alfred F. Jones of the Seven Seas Navy, laughing at the ship and it surely terrified crew. Alfred just had something against pirates, but Mathieu did not feel the same, not in a situation like this. Those people needed help without judgement, and that was exactly what Mathieu would provide.

Mathieu ran down the stairs of the lighthouse, accidentally waking up his giant white dog, Kuma, in the process. He grabbed an old kerosene lamp and went out into the pounding wind and rain. With Kuma right on his heels, the young man stood on a spot on shore that he knew would be the safest place for the panicked ship to dock.

He put a hand up to his eyes and looked for the ship. His heart was in the throat as the ship continued to get thrown about in the water. He was certain it would get smashed under the waves no less than ten times. On the fifth time he was so focused on the ship that he nearly failed to notice a particularly large wave coming right for him, but thankfully Kuma pulled him back before he got swept out to sea.

Mathieu had no idea how much time passed before the ship finally managed to beach itself on the shore. It somehow felt like both an eternity and a second. Once the ship did land, there was a new rush as the crew got to work securing what they could before leaving the vessel. One man whose skin and hair lacked all pigment, rushed towards Mathieu with someone on his back.

“Hey! You with the lantern! We need your help!” The man stopped, took a moment to catch his breath, and then looked up at Mathieu desperately. “Please! Our captain hit his head when the boat was getting tossed around, and he hasn’t woken up!”

 

Day 8: First Night Beneath the Stars

 

Mathieu collapsed with a sigh onto the grass just outside his lighthouse. The night sky was completely clear, making the storm that had rolled through two nights prior feel like a dream. Or a nightmare. He hadn’t quite decided yet.

“Hi mama,” he greeted while looking up at the stars. “You won’t believe what’s been going on these past few days. I’ve got a whole pirate crew living in the lighthouse right now because their ship needs a lot of repairs and they think the Navy will arrest them if they go to the nearby town. I’ve been buying materials for them, and they’ve been making a mess here. Okay, to be honest, they have been trying to be better behaved ever since their captain woke up, but their destruction of my kitchen is still unexcusable.”

He paused.

“I still don’t know what to make of Captain Bonnefoy. When I first saw him he was soggy and limp and I never thought he’d wake up, but he did wake up last night. He, um, well, you don’t really need to know what happened when he first saw me. You should just know that now that all of the fog in his mind has disappeared, it’s nearly impossible to get him to stay in bed. He wants to be back on his ship, _La Rose Noire_ , overseeing repairs, but I told him that he has to stay in bed to make sure his injury isn’t serious. And you know what he did, mama?”

“I believe I called you cute for worrying about me and then kissed you on the lips.”

Mathieu squeaked and whipped his head around. Before he could ask Captain Bonnefoy _what the hell he was doing out of bed again_ , Kuma slammed into him and knocked him onto his back while bathing him in kisses.

“Kuma! Kuma...Kuma stop...stop, please!” He wrestled Kuma off of him, and he had to wrestle with him, because just pushing wasn’t enough to get Kuma to move. Still, Kuma continued to kiss him. “Yes, yes, I love you, too. I was only out of the house for a minute, so our reunion really shouldn't be so dramatic, bud.”

Captain Bonnefoy chuckled as he sat down next to Mathieu on the grass. “A minute was simply too long.”

After Mathieu was finally able to calm Kuma down with lots of ear rubbing, he shot a glare at the Frenchman beside him. “What are you doing out here?”

Captain Bonnefoy playfully wilted. “Ah, do not be so cruel, _mon cher!_ I am so lonely and bored with everyone else going out and doing their own thing.”

“Why don’t you just sleep like you’re supposed to?”

The Frenchman whined. “But I am not tired!”

“That makes one of us…” Mathieu grumbled under his breath.

“You are tired because I have been using your bed, no?” The captain slipped an arm around Mathieu’s waist. “I might be more willing to sleep if you joined me.”

Mathieu was quick to smack Captain Bonnefoy’s hand, and if Kuma hadn’t been in the way he would have scooted away. “Would you stop that! You do realize I’m a man, right?”

“I fail to see what that has to do with anything.”

“You touch everyone like that?”

“Everyone? No, do not be ridiculous. I only touch beautiful people like that.”

Seeing that he was talking to a brick wall, Mathieu rolled his eyes and began to stand up.

“W-Wait!”

Mathieu stopped when he felt Captain Bonnefoy’s hand grab his own. He looked at the Frenchman and waited for him to say something.

“I...I am sorry. I did not mean to...or, well, you see, I am very grateful for you taking my crew in so that none of us have to worry about fighting off capture while our ship is damaged, and it seems I have been trying to convey that gratefulness in all the wrong ways.”

Mathieu wanted to stay mad, maybe even teach this (rather pompous) Frenchman a lesson about thoughtless flirting, but those cursed blue eyes got him to sit back down.

“That doesn’t excuse your behavior when you first woke up.”

“I thought I was dead,” Captain Bonnefoy defended.

“So?”

“I thought you were an angel!”

“You’d squeeze the ass of an angel and say, ‘Guess they were wrong when they said pirating is a sin if you’re here waiting for me’?!”

“...Probably.”

Mathieu shook his head in disbelief. “You’re unbelievable.”

Captain Bonnefoy shrugged before flashing a confident smirk. “I am me. Not even death can change that.”

“Almost-death.”

“Only because you saved me.”

Mathieu’s shot the captain another look.

Captain Bonnefoy held up his hands in defeat as a light blush dusted his cheeks. “Right. Sorry. You set everything up so perfectly that the words naturally slipped out.”

Mathieu gave up and turned his attention back to the stars twinkling above them. Hopefully his mama hadn’t heard the whole conversation between the captain and himself. There were some things his mama just didn’t need to know…

“You like the stars, Mathieu?”

He glanced back curiously at Captain Bonnefoy. “Well...yes. Doesn’t everyone?”

“Hm. But there is a special connection between the stars and those on the water. All of this new technology is very nice, but nothing can beat the stars. They will always lead you down the right path.”

Breathy chuckles escaped Mathieu. “Sounds like you’re more in love with them than I am. Do you have a favorite? Perhaps the Northern Star?”

“The Northern Star is certainly useful, but it is not my favorite. _Gallico amatoribus_ gets that honor.”

“Really?” He turned his full attention to the captain. “That’s a bit of an odd one. What do you like about it?”

“For one, it is quite bright, which makes it good for positioning yourself. But there is also the story behind why it is so bright that has captured my heart.” Mathieu gestured for him to continue. “Ah, well because the star is such a stunning red in our night sky, it is said that _Gallico amatoribus_ is actually the combination of the souls of two lovers that refused to part.”

Captain Bonnefoy paused, but then his eyes widened. “What is this?” He squinted up at the sky. “ _Gallico amatoribus_ has risen a little early...it usually does not come out until the start of winter.”

Mathieu followed the captain’s gaze to the northwest and saw the star twinkling happily, completely unaware that it was early.

“That is a little odd…”

“Do you perhaps think…?”

“Captain Bonnefoy.”

“Right. Forgive me.”

 

Day 21: First Time You’re Gone

 

Mathieu lay in his bed while staring up at the ceiling. The house was quiet. Even when his mother was alive and the two of them lived alone the house had been that way, but suddenly it felt wrong. It felt empty.

He had never felt this way before. Alfred had always worried about him living in the lighthouse alone, sure, but when he told Alfred he was content with the way things were he was always telling the truth. He liked living with just Kuma and himself. It was peaceful. But somehow those stupid pirates -who always drank and sang and managed to break something new each day- had made what was once peaceful now grating.

He turned onto his side. Big mistake. With his nose pressed into the pillow, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Francois’ smell still lingered there. Inhaling the Frenchman’s ghost brought back a sudden wave of memories that he had been trying to forget -particularly the memory of their last few moments together before _La Rose Noire_ sailed away.

Francois had turned and grabbed Mathieu’s hands so quickly that what he said didn’t even register at first. But then Mathieu realized Francois was asking him to sail away with him and the crew to who knew where, and on instinct Mathieu rejected the offer. He couldn’t leave the lighthouse his mother had left his father to continue running. Besides, what about Kuma? Mathieu couldn’t leave him behind, but what if he turned out to have seasickness? And, knowing Alfred, if he found out Mathieu wasn’t manning the lighthouse, he’d probably send out every fleet in the world to find him.

Mathieu couldn’t sail away with Francois. He had made the right decision by turning the captain down.

He sniffed the pillow again. He couldn’t go, but he had wanted to. No one in this world could resists Francois’ romantic charms forever, and Mathieu certainly wasn’t an exception. It was nice getting treated like the most important person in the world, even if some of the things Francois said were gag-worthy in their level of romantic sappiness. His kisses were breathtaking, and the look Mathieu sometimes caught in his eyes was heartstopping.

Mathieu buried his bright-red face into his pillow. Francois had just left the day before, yet Mathieu was already feeling unbearably lonely. The worst part was that all that had happened would surely fall from Francois’ mind the moment his ship docked again and he found another pretty face to swoon.

Mathieu pushed the pillow away and sat up. He couldn’t sleep, not with these memories clawing at his heart.

 

Day 39: First Nightmare  
_Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1937_

 

Charging. Explosion. Screaming. Continued charging. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. SHOOT, GODDAMN IT, SHOOT. Call for retreat. Explosion. Two explosions. Jump out of the trench. Running. Land mine. Guy blows up. Blood everywhere. Keep running. Trip. Fall. Slide into a ditch. Slide into a dead man. Scream.

“Francois!”

Francois shot out of bed, his breaths coming out in sharp pants. His irregular breathing rattled the lungs that had been ravaged by trench gasses, forcing him into a coughing fit. The coughing made air intake impossible, and that pushed his panicking mind into overdrive.

_“Oh god, oh god, oh god.”_ Screamed Francois’ thoughts. _“I’m dying. I’m going to die. What’s going on? Why am I dying? The soldier was dead, not me! Oh god, oh god...Someone, please, help me!”_

“Francois, Francois please, calm down!”

Two strong arms pulled Francois into a warm embrace. He still wasn’t sure what was going on, but the warmth gave him something to focus on, something other than fear and death.

Gradually, his thoughts began to clear. He was in his room. Mathieu was also in his room, which likely meant he had been screaming loud enough to be heard across the apartment. He didn’t know how to feel. Mortified, perhaps. Stupid, almost definitely. There had been a reason he holed himself up in an apartment without a roommate. God, why did he stupidly invite someone to live with him knowing that this would happen?

The tears were pouring out of his eyes before he even felt them coming. God, he was a mess.

Mathieu didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t necessarily silent. One of his hands was continuously moving up and down Francois’ back, infusing heat into a body that was drenched in a cold sweat. Francois couldn’t put into words how the repetitive and tender motion made him feel, but instead of fretting he wondered the gesture was being made precisely because Mathieu was also unsure of what words would adequately get his feelings across in that moment.

His tears dried, but neither of them moved away from the other. It was….strange. Francois had always dealt with these episodes on his own (which, he had to admit, had not been a very effective approach). Having someone else besides him wasn’t a cure-all by any means, but it did...help.

“Francois?” Mathieu voice was soft, cautious, but not in any way demeaning.

“Hm?”

“Would you like to come to the kitchen with me? I think I’m a little hungry…”

Francois blinked and looked up at the blushing Mathieu. _“Ah…”_ He smiled. “ _Oui_ , I would. I could use something to drink.”

Mathieu nodded. “Good.” His blush intensified right before he pushed Francois’ face back into his chest and then pecked the top of his head. “Th-Then let’s go.”

Francois snaked his arms around Mathieu. “There is no need to go right away, is there?”

“Er...N...No…”

“Then let’s stay like this for a little bit longer.”

“O...Okay.”

Despite his obvious embarrassment, Mathieu tightened his hold on Francois as the two sat in silence. Once again, his demons momentarily left him as he got lost in Mathieu’s warmth.

 

Day 42: First Winter  
_Glacé Nord, Year 7_

 

“It. Is. _Freezing!_ ”

“I told you it would be. There’s a reason most people choose not to travel to Glacé Nord in the winter.”

Francois glared at Mathieu. “Well, I might not be so cold if you would walk faster.”

“I’m carrying all of the heavy stuff!”

Francois stuck his nose up high in the air and began to pick up his pace. “That is no excuse! Surely guard training puts you through worse than walking fast with a heavy pack on your back.”

Mathieu rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother trying to keep pace with Francois. “Other than to keep warm, there’s no reason to rush, Francois. Besides, we need to stay aware of our surroundings.”

“We shall be fine! There is no one stupid enough to sit around in this cold just for us to walk by.”

“No, Francois, it’s not-”

The sound of a snapping branch in the dark forest to their left forced Mathieu to stop.

Francois, frustrated, kept walking. “Come on, Mathieu! If we continue at this rate, the cold will get us before we get to the Northern King!”

“Francois, stop!”

With a huff, Francois did as he was told and turned to face Mathieu. “Why?!”

Before Mathieu could answer, a low growl sounded from the trees. The pair both turned their eyes towards the sound and watched as a starved wolf emerged from the darkness. Francois had barely taken a step back when two more wolves followed after it. Behind Mathieu another two wolves stepped forward, and behind Francois three more joined the pack. Mathieu and Francois were effectively surrounded on the snow-covered path.

“M...Mathieu…?”

“Francois, close your eyes.”

“Are you insa-”

“Francois!”

Francois was horribly confused (and somewhat convinced Mathieu wanted him dead), but he covered his eyes with his arm anyway. There was a sudden flash of light that let him see reds and oranges through his eyelids, and this was followed by pained yelps from the wolves. To curious to keep following Mathieu’s order, he uncovered his eyes just in time to see all of the wolves flee. Mathieu was standing with his right arm outstretched, but when he noticed that Francois’ eyes were open, he quickly dropped the appendage

Francois stared at Mathieu in stunned shock.

“What was…?”

Mathieu readjusted his pack and started walking towards Francois at a much faster rate than before. “Come on, let’s go.”

Mathieu passed by Francois, and Francois had to sprint to catch up with him. “Wait, no! What was that?”

“As I had been trying to tell you, you shouldn’t be worried about humans this time of year, but animals. The ones that don’t hibernate or die sometimes get desperate.”

“That is not what I am referring to, and you know it! What was that flash? Was that light magic?”

Mathieu didn’t respond.

“You...you have light magic? Why did you not tell me?”

“I-It’s not like I have a whole lot! It’s just enough for a quick flash like that, or...or a little lantern light. Really, it’s nothing. I only used it back there because I panicked.”

“You panicked?”

“You were too far away for me to ensure your safety if I tried to fight off all of the wolves individually. Using a flash was the only thing I could think to do.”

Francois fell silent. His stubbornness and complaining had certainly contributed to putting them in such a tight spot.

“Is…” Francois had a hard time getting his words out. Should he really continue pestering Mathieu with questions? “Is there a particular reason the Queen sent a warrior with light magic to accompany me?”

Mathieu shook his head. “She doesn’t know about my magic. Actually, the only people who know about it are my brother and...well, you.”

“Is there a reason you have been keeping it secret?”

“It’s just such a small amount, I don’t see why anyone would care.”

Francois had a feeling that wasn’t the full answer, but he couldn’t really blame Mathieu for wanting to keep his secrets from the difficult assassin he had been assigned to protect.

He looked at Mathieu’s face and noticed that he looked tired. If Mathieu had been keeping his light magic a secret, then he likely didn’t use it much, and with little experience that one blast was probably as draining for him as ten high-level spells were for a highly experienced mage. The guilt that had begun to form in his stomach twisted and grew into a solid lump.

“Mathieu, why do we not take a break?” Francois glanced around and saw what looked to be a small cave a little ways ahead of them. “We can rest there for a while.”

“Won’t you get cold just waiting around?”

“I shall be fine. Besides, I am tired, too.”

Mathieu sighed as a grateful look fell over his face. “Thank you.”

Francois caught the look on Mathieu’s face and then quickly turned his head away. Why was his heart pounding blood to his cheeks after seeing such a gentle expression on the warrior’s face?

 

Day 43: First Spring  
_Glacé Nord, Year 8_

 

“Mathieu! Mathieu, come look!”

Mathieu had been sleeping in his room in their small cottage just outside the Northern King’s Imperial City when Francois excitedly pounded on his door. Francois didn’t sound panicked, so Mathieu didn’t bother grabbing any armor or weapons as he left his room to see what Francois wanted him to see.

“What is it Francois?”

Francois grabbed Mathieu’s hand and led him to the back of the cottage. “The roses! They have bloomed!”

Mathieu’s eyes widened in genuine interest. “They did?”

“Yes, yes! Come see for yourself!”

Francois swung open the door to a small closet and, sure enough, the rose bush Francois had planted was in full bloom. After first settling down in the dead of winter, Francois had lamented not having any way to grow roses with Glacé Nord hardly reaching the fifties in the summer. Mathieu had then offered (tentatively) that he might be able to create a small source of heat and light for a rose bush with his magic, and Francois decided to take a chance. The vibrance of the red roses proved that the chance had been worth it.

“They’re beautiful,” Mathieu commented. “But...what do you need them for, again?”

“I dip all of my weapons in a special poison-infused rose water. It is my signature.”

“Oh. Right. But wasn’t that ‘signature’ the reason you got caught trying to assassinate my Queen in the first place?”

“Yeah…” Francois was clearly too enamoured with the blooming roses to remember how they had nearly gotten him executed. “But it is such a potent mixture that if even a drop enters the bloodstream, the person will be dead within a minute. I just cannot get enough.”

“Dear God…” Mathieu felt a spike of worry. “Don’t you worry about getting cut and dying?”

“No, I made sure to develop an immunity to it long ago.” Francois reached forward and stroked one of the flowers’ petals. “Ah, it is so soft! I am so glad this worked, Mathieu! Thank you!”

Francois beamed up at Mathieu, and Mathieu blushed. How could this guy go from talking about deadly poison to soft rose petals without looking insane? It wasn’t fair.

“No problem, Francois. I’m just glad my magic worked.”

“I knew it would. They say that light magic is gifted to a select few by the stars, after all.”

Mathieu was glad Francois wasn’t looking at him when he spoke because he really didn’t want Francois to see how fast his blush had traveled from his cheeks to his neck. Mathieu had never really liked his light magic, but when Francois had so much confidence in it -in _him_ \- made his heart flutter.

“I-I, um, have to start getting ready for work,” Mathieu stammered out as he began to walk away from the rose bush. “The Northern King is coming back from his trip to my kingdom today, and guards are supposed to be there to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

Francois plucked one of the roses and took it to the kitchen. “How has spy work been going?”

Thank God for a subject shift. “Not bad. Most of the guards are tolerable, but the King…” Mathieu shook his head. “He’s just awful. Raising taxes on the starving farmers, worsening punishments for minor crimes...I really don’t mind helping you find ways to get rid of him.”

“Thank you Mathieu. Your help has proven to be invaluable.”

Whelp. There went Mathieu’s blush again. “L-Like I said, no problem.”

 

Day 44: First Summer  
_Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1940_

 

The late-afternoon sun filled the apartment’s living room with golden light. Mathieu was reading a book on the couch while Francois prepped dinner in the adjoining kitchen. The radio filled the space with crackling music.

A new song started up that caught Francois by surprise. He couldn’t remember hearing the song since he was young, yet it came back to him so easily. The tune, the words -he couldn’t help but hum along.  
  


_Baby, the stars_  
_they are so far  
_ _away_

  
_And their beauty_  
_doesn’t hold me_  
_like you_  
  


Strong, familiar arms wrapped around Francois’ waist from behind. He closed his eyes and easily fell back into Mathieu’s chest.

“Did I distract you from your reading?”

“Yeah, but in a good way.”

Francois chuckled and turned around in Mathieu’s arms. “Would you like to dance?”

“I’m not very good,” Mathieu admitted with a light blush.

“That is fine.” He moved one of Mathieu’s hands up to his shoulder blade and then rested his own hand on Mathieu’s shoulder. “I am not supposed to be very active, anyway.”

Mathieu connected their remaining hands and smiled down at him. “So gentle swaying is good enough?”

He sighed into Mathieu’s chest. “It is perfect.”  
  


_But if we are forced apart_  
_do you think those lover stars_  
_would grant my_  
_simple wish_  
  


The pair swayed with the music. Francois had a hard time keeping the tempo with Mathieu’s heart beating rhythmically in his ear, yet he saw no reason to move his head or complain.  
  


_To cut me loose_  
_from this fated noose_  
_and lead me back to you?_  
_Oh, gallico amatoribus._  
  


“Francois?”

“Hm?”

Francois (reluctantly) lifted his head and was rewarded for his efforts with a loving kiss on the lips. Francois melted into the contact as his heart began to flutter in his chest. Mathieu was too sweet, too beautiful, too perfect.

Just as Francois was starting to wrap his arms around Mathieu’s neck, the song was suddenly cut off by a low beep. The pair broke apart, looked at each other, and then at the radio as a new voice crackled through.

_“Breaking news...on this day, France has done what was thought to be an impossible outcome only a few months ago. That is right, ladies and gentleman: France has signed the armistice with Germany, effectively surrendering herself to the boches…”_

Francois tuned the rest out as he felt his legs grow weak. This was how far the “phony war” had progressed already? France, the country he had been so (foolishly) enthusiastic to defend, had fallen?

“Francois…?”

Without Mathieu holding him up, Francois would almost certainly have fallen to the ground. Instead, he fell back into Mathieu’s chest just as the water on the stove began to boil.

“Europe...is a lost cause. It has been since the end of the Great War. That...That is why I came to Canada in the first place.”

Mathieu ran a gentle hand through Francois’ hair. “I’m sorry.”

Francois took a deep breath. “Do not be.” He looked up into Mathieu’s eyes. “Who cares about France when Canada has you?”

 

Day 45: First Autumn  
_Francesco di Paola Island,  The 16th Year of the Glorious King’s Reign_

 

As Mathieu walked by himself on the sand of the beach, Kuma came running up to him with a huge stick in his mouth.

“What, do you want me to throw that for you,” Mathieu asked with a chuckle.

Kuma stuck his butt up into the air and enthusiastically wagged his tail. The dog’s answer was easy to translate.

“Alright, alright, give it here, boy.”

Mathieu grabbed the stick, but he had to play a small amount of tug-of-war with Kuma before he was able to get the stick out of Kuma’s mouth. Once victorious, however, he threw the stick far past the beach grass-covered sand dunes that separated the sand from the browning autumn grass. With an excited bark, Kuma barreled through the beach grass in search of his stick. Chuckling some more while shaking his head, Mathieu continued down the beach.

A few minutes passed. And then a few more. He heard Kuma barking excitedly, so perhaps he had found a few seagulls to chase around?

“Kuma,” Mathieu called. The dog really shouldn’t have been harassing the seagulls. “Kuma, come back here, boy!”

There was a pause before Kuma appeared with his stick again.

Mathieu crouched down to one knee and ruffled Kuma’s ears playfully. “Don’t play around with the seagulls, Kuma! You never know when they’ll decide enough’s enough and chase you back!”

“A seagull? Is that what you believe me to be? A rat with wings? How cruel!”

Mathieu froze. No, it couldn’t be…

He turned to the dunes and, sure enough, there was Francois watching him with an amused smile on his face.

Mathieu got back to his feet. “F-Francois?”

Said captain descended the dune he was on and approached Mathieu. “The one and only, _cher._ ”

“Wh-What are you doing here?!” It had nearly been two years since they had last seen each other, so why the sudden appearance?

Francois reached out to Mathieu, but then stopped and dropped his hand along with his eyes. “Well...to put it simply, I have missed you.”

“...Huh?”

“A-And the feeling has been so agonizing because I have never missed someone like I have missed you. I could find no pleasure in wine or nightly companions because I would feel guilt or I would wonder what you were doing. The confusion put me in such a mood that my crew could no longer take it and sailed back to your island so that I could see you again.”

Mathieu’s cheeks were bright red. He had never been one for alcohol, and he had never had a, er, “night companion”, but his feelings of loneliness hadn’t been one-sided. The flirtatious pirate captain that had twisted his heart had apparently twisted his own as well.

Mathieu grabbed the hand Francois had dropped. Francois glanced up at him somewhat...sheepishly?

“I…” Mathieu swallowed a lump in his throat. “I missed you, too, b-but I just figured that you had forgotten me by now.”

“Forget you?!” Francois grabbed Mathieu’s other hand and held both of them up earnestly. “Do not be ridiculous! I asked you to join my crew because I thought you were amazing! When you rejected my offer and I had to be without you, I realized-” Suddenly, he stopped his speech.

“You...realized...what?”

“I…” Francois faltered for a moment before a second wave of determination fueled him to look Mathieu in the eyes. “I realized that you are the first wind on a still day at sea. I realized that you bring out the beauty of a sea rose. I realized that I needed to see the light of your lighthouse every day. I realized that I...I love you.”

“You...I…” Mathieu’s head was swirling. No one had ever confessed to him, a plain hermit of a man living by himself at a lighthouse, before. He had also never felt his heart thump so happily before.

“Mathieu.” The stating of his name brought Mathieu’s focus back to the waiting Francois. When he still didn’t speak, Francois continued. “May...may I kiss you?”

Mathieu nodded immediately. “Please.”

Francois leaned forward, and Mathieu closed his eyes. Just as he felt the Frenchman’s breath brush against his lips, a chorus of cheering exploded from the sand dunes. Both Francois and Mathieu whipped their heads towards the dunes and saw Francois’ entire crew whooping and dancing.

“Finally,” Gilbert, the man who had first brought Francois to Mathieu two years ago (and also the first mate of _La Rose Noire_ ), exclaimed. “Franny, if you woulda messed this up, we woulda killed ya!”

Mathieu was too embarrassed to speak. Francois, thankfully, still had some words left.

“How long have you all been there?!”

“Long enough,” Gilbert replied. “We all love Matty, too! The more reasons we have to come back to Matty, the better!”

“I thought we came back so that I could see Mathieu!”

“Well, yeah, but ya gotta share. Since you were sleeping most of the time last time, Matty spent a whole lotta time with us. More than you.”

Francois let go of Mathieu’s hands and ran up to the dunes. “That is not true! We had a lot of bonding time, and now we wish to have more! Alone!”

As Francois tried in vain to shoo his stubborn crew, Mathieu couldn’t help but laugh. This was the first autumn since his mother died that he hadn’t felt alone.

 

Day 56: Last Battle  
_Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1944_

 

Mathieu stared up at the recruitment office with heavy eyes. He then turned back to the empty street behind him and felt his heart weigh down in his chest.

Francois hadn’t come with him. Well, it was more accurate to say that Francois couldn’t have come with him. They had fought and made up, but Francois still didn’t have the state of mind to accompany Mathieu without causing a huge scene. Mathieu had been less worried about everyone finding out their secret than he was about Francois working himself up into a panic that required medical attention, so he had kissed Francois goodbye in their apartment.

But Mathieu didn’t want to be where he was standing. He wanted to be back home with Francois, living life the way they had for years. He wanted to wake up before Francois and make him breakfast. He wanted to turn on the radio and dance with Francois all afternoon. He wanted to fall asleep with Francois so that the Frenchman could have at least a few minutes without nightmares. He wanted home. He wanted Francois.

He tightened his grip on his duffle bag. He could run right at that moment, and he knew it wouldn’t take any convincing to get Francois to run away with him somewhere far away, but what good would that do? Francois needed to be somewhere stable so that neither his body nor his mind rebelled against him. And if Mathieu ran away, who would make sure to keep fighting the Nazis into submission? All of the troops in Europe were tired, but the Allies could get more, and that could give the Allies the advantage they needed to keep the Nazis from bouncing back.

Mathieu took a deep breath. He couldn’t keep fighting in his mind. He had to make a decision, and his decision was to answer the conscription note he had been given. But he wasn’t going to fight for Britain or Canada or any of the other Allied Powers. Mathieu Williams was going to fight to keep France and the rest of the world safe so that one day he could take Francois around the world.

Under the light of a gray, cloud-filled sky, Mathieu walked alone into the recruitment office with determination masking the fear in his eyes.

It smelled like rain.

 

Day 94: Last Spring   
_Glacé Nord, Year 9_

 

“How strange. It’s raining.”

Francois slipped up behind Mathieu, wrapped his arms around the warrior’s waist, and gazed out the window with him. “So it is. Usually it just ices in the spring here. The change is refreshing.”

Mathieu smiled sadly. “You’ve really been wilting under all this cold. I wish I could take you somewhere warmer for at least a few days.”

Francois hummed distractedly in response. “But you cannot. Not before the King is dead, at least.”

“...Right… How’s your, er, plan going?”

“I am going to kill him this coming winter.”

Mathieu stared at Francois in shock. “You...what? Really? This winter? Why then?”

Francois smiled affectionately and pecked Mathieu’s nose. The warrior’s cheeks reddened. “Because, _cher_ , you told me so yourself: no one comes to Glacé Nord in the winter. It is far too cold, and the King knows this. Every winter the King lets his guard down, and I will happily use that weakening to my advantage.”

“That...That’s great!” Mathieu turned his head away. “What are you going to do when he’s dead? I was never given the order to bring you back to Magicae, so it seems that you are free to go once this job is done.”

Francois frowned. “I thought you wanted to take me somewhere warmer.”

“You…” Mathieu turned around in Francois arms, stared at him for a moment, and then smiled. “Yeah, of course. How about Gallico?”

A hopeful light sparkled in Francois’ eyes. “How could I say no to going back to my home country?”

“You aren’t a wanted man there, are you?”

Francois laughed and shook his head. “No, not anymore. I am not a wanted man anywhere after this thanks to your Queen.”

“Hey, don’t say that. I want you.”

Both men blushed before collapsing into laughing. The line was so cheesey, but it had also held truth, and neither man could have been happier.

 

Day 95: Last Summer  
_Francesco di Paola Island, 18th Year of the Glorious King’s Reign_

 

“Just be honest with me, Matt; has Captain Bonnefoy been tormenting ya on this island?”

Straight to the point. How unusual for Mathieu’s brother.

Mathieu set his cup of coffee down on the table. “No, Alfred, he hasn’t.”

“There have been a lot of reports coming to me that his ship has been spotted here a lot lately. I have friends that know about you bein’ here and wanted ta make sure I was aware a crazy dangerous pirate has been stalkin’ your waters.”

“Why, so you can arrest him?”

“Yes, but -gah, that ain’t the point.” Alfred ran a hand through his wheat-blond bangs. “They gave me the information and I came here ta keep you safe. Why can’t ya understand that, Matt?”

“There’s a reason Dad took you away to train to become a naval officer while Mom kept me here to run the lighthouse,” Mathieu replied, his eyes focused on the steady waves crashing outside the window. “I can’t do what the Navy does. I can’t judge boats by the flags they fly.”

“That damned pirate has killed people!”

Mathieu snapped his gaze toward Alfred. “So have _y_ _ou!_ ”

Alfred stared in stunned silence. Such harsh words were unusual from Mathieu.

“Don’t try to deny it, Al! The Navy, the pirates -all of you have killed! What makes your killings more righteous than theirs?”

Alfred suddenly snapped back to attention. “Matt, watch yourself! That kinda talk will get you arrested, ya know that? It ain’t about what’s right and wrong. It’s about the law.”

Mathieu dropped his eyes to his coffee. “...I’m sorry.”

Alfred sighed, and it sounded like he had been holding the breath in for a long time. “It’s fine, just… be careful. If you talk to the wrong people like that, I won’t be able to protect ya.” He pulled up his white uniform sleeve and checked his watch. “I have to go right now, but I’ll be back for dinner, ‘kay?”

“Don’t you have a lot of work? You don’t need to come back here for dinner.”

Alfred smiled sadly. “Yeah, but...I worry ‘bout ya livin’ out here all by yourself. I like spending as much time with my little bro as I can so that he doesn’t disappear, ya know?” Chuckling at his own joke, Alfred stood up, grabbed his Naval cap, and winked playfully at his brother. “See ya tonight, bro.”

Mathieu stood up to see Alfred out. “Right. See you tonight.”

Mathieu watched his brother go, and once he was sure he was gone, he ran to his bedroom and knocked on the door.

“Francois? He’s gone.”

The door swung open to reveal a frustrated Francois.

“That Naval brat! How dare he say such things about me! I have never killed anyone, Mathieu, not a single person! I have hurt people, sure but I have never killed. I am not a man who kills! I am not like Captain Kirkland or, or-!”

“I know, Francois, I know.” Mathieu pecked Francois’ lips to calm him down and get his attention. “But that’s not the problem right now. You and your crew can’t come here anymore.”

Francois’ face fell. “What?”

“Now that Alfred’s aware that you’ve been coming here, he’ll be watching you and this place as closely as he can. We were just lucky your crew went to resupply a few islands over so that we would have some alone time, otherwise who knows what Alfred would have done.”

“But...then…” Francois cradled Mathieu’s cheek in his hand. “What shall we do? I cannot be away from you, and you cannot leave this place.”

Mathieu leaned into Francois touch. “Well...you could...you know…”

“Hm?”

“S-Stay. Stay here. With me.”

Francois’ eyes lit up. “Do...Do you mean that?”

Mathieu nodded. “O-Of course! Though...I understand if you’re anxious about living on land after all of your time at sea…”

Francois threw his arms around Mathieu’s neck and kissed him deeply.

“Do not be silly, _mon cher,_ ” he cried. “More than anything, I want to stay here with you!”

 

Day 96: Last Autumn  
_Francesco di Paola Island, 18th Year of the Glorious King’s Reign_

 

“Francois, you have to go!”

“What?! _Why?!_ ”

Mathieu pushed Francois towards _La Rose Noire_ as his heart cracked. “Because someone in town said that my brother is bringing a whole fleet to the island! He never comes back this soon after a visit, and he never comes back with a whole fleet.”

Francois stepped out of Mathieu’s hands and turned to face him. “So?”

“So, I do not want him finding you and taking you away forever, which I’m sure is what he plans to do! If you and your crew leave now, you’ll all have enough of a head start to avoid the fleet and find a place to stay safe!”

“B-But what about you?”

Mathieu shook his head. “I...I still can’t go with you. If I’m not here, Alfred will no doubt hunt you down to the ends of the Earth. If I’m here, I can at least placate him. No matter what, he won’t hurt me. Not physically, at least.”

“Captain,” Gilbert shouted from the ship. “We gotta go now while the wind’s in our favor!”

Mathieu couldn’t take the heartbroken look in Francois’ eyes. He kissed the Frenchman with all the love and passion he could find within himself, and then backed away.

“I’ll be fine. Just stay safe and come back to me in a month, okay?” Francois didn’t look convinced, so Mathieu continued. “Wh-When you come back, I’ll have the place all ready for you to stay for good, okay? This is the last time you’ll ever have to leave.”

“Never?”

“Never. We’ll fake your death o-or something so Alfred gives up, and then you’ll be safe to stay forever.”

Francois reluctantly nodded. “A...Alright. A month, Mathieu.”

“Yes, a month. N-Now, please, go! All of your time is precious right now!”

As _La Rose Noire_ sailed away, Mathieu couldn’t help the wave of loneliness that crashed on top of him. When had a month become such a long period of time to him when before he waited two years for Francois’ return? Even the few minutes it took for the sun to set and turn the water red felt like an eternity...

 

Day 97: Last Winter  
_Glacé Nord, Year 9_

 

As the red blood of the Northern King reached for Francois shoes, the assassin couldn’t help the jump of joy that coursed through him. This was it. This was what he had to do, and now that he was done, he was free!

“Mathieu!” Oh, Mathieu, his light, had made the whole mission so simple. He sent all of the regular guards off to some far part of the castle, and now he should have been the only one guarding the doors to the throne room. Francois was so excited to see him, to finally run away with him, that he ran for the doors without caring about the blood he was tracking.

“Mathieu, I have done it! He is dead! We are free!”

The huge wooden door was a bit of a pain to open, but once it was out of the way there was only his Mathieu before him. Curiously, his back was to Francois still…

“Hello? Mathieu, did you not hear me?” Oh, of course he didn’t! The door must have muffled the sounds! How embarrassing. “I am done! The Northern King is dead! We can go!”

Still no response. Now Francois was getting anxious.

“Mathieu…?”

He reached out to grab Mathieu’s shoulder, but just as his fingers brushed the fabric of the uniform, Mathieu’s head turned back and Francois was shocked into recoiling his hand.

Mathieu...Mathieu’s eyes were green. Instead of their usual lively violet, then were a sickly, glowing green.

“... _Cher?_ ”

 

Day 93: Last Wish  
_Francesco di Paola Island, 18th Year of the Glorious King’s Reign_

 

Francois kept his head low as he stood shakily on Captain Arthur Kirkland’s plank. He had sailed right into a trap set up by the unlikely duo of a feared pirate captain and a fearsome pirate hunter. They had purposefully spread the rumor of the impending Naval fleet so that _La Rose Noire_ would run away and fall into Kirkland’s clutches.

Now Francois stood beaten, bloody, and bound, physically no longer able to fight although his will demanded release. His crew, locked up below deck, were shouting all sorts of demands, including the release of their beloved captain. Francois took some comfort in the fact that his crew cared about him so much, but he also knew that no amount of love could get him out of his current situation.

“Oy, Bonnefoy.” Francois bristled at the British butchering of his name by Captain Kirkland. “Any last words before I force you off this ship for good?”

Francois refused to turn around and face the man’s sickly green eyes and twisted, victorious smile. Instead he turned his face up towards the star-speckled night sky. The lighthouse was just a speck in the distance, but the stars felt close enough to touch, including _Gallico amatoribus_.  

“I wish…” Francois swallowed as his eyes filled up with tears. He had been so looking forward to his life with Mathieu. “I wish to be led back to you, _mon amour_.”

“...What? Who are you…?”

A roar from below the deck cut off Kirkland’s thoughts and flipped his crew into action. As Kirkland’s crew tried to calm down Francois’, Arthur growled and pressed his blade against Francois’ back.

_“Jump!_ ”

There weren’t any other options left for Francois. With one last deep breath, he jumped from the ship and into the icy waves below.  

 

Day 99: Last Dance  
_Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1945_

 

Another coughing fit grabbed ahold of Francois as he sat in his living room. The coughing fits had been more frequent as of late, and every time they shook his whole body he cursed the gas that had settled into his lungs like water. As if it wasn’t enough to have a damaged mind and an aching heart, the rest of his body had to revolt against him in Mathieu’s absence as well.

There was a knock at the front door. Between coughs, Francois spluttered out that he’d be right there. He sat, waited for the fit to pass, and then got up to answer the door.

“ _Bon_...”

His breathing stopped.

His mind froze.

_Mathieu_ -his precious and most beautiful Mathieu- was standing before him in the doorway. After dragging through long, insufferable months alone, Mathieu was here!

Tears sprang to his eyes. “M-Mathieu…?”

Mathieu laughed, but the sound was sad, hollow, and...off. The laugh wasn’t Mathieu’s laugh, and when Francois dropped his eyes down he didn’t see Mathieu’s uniform.

“Ya know, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been mistaken for Matt instead of the other way ‘round.”

Francois took a step back. “Who...Who are you?” His face tightened in defensive anger. “What are you doing here? Where is Mathieu?”

The stranger dropped his eyes. Francois’ heart plummeted.

“N...No! No! Do not make that face! Tell me where Mathieu is _this instant!”_

“L-Look, Francois-”

“You know where he is, I know you do! Why do you not go get him?”

“I can’t-”

“O-or call him! Surely you could call him somehow! It feels as though phones are everywhere these days. I think my neighbor has a phone. I am sure that if I explained what was going one, she would-”

“He’s not-”

“Why are you still just standing there?! Who _are_ you?! How do you know Mathieu? You do not even have a Canadian uniform. Why will you not answer my questions? Where is-”

“Francois!” The stranger grabbed Francois shoulders and stared him square in the eyes. “Please...just...just let me fulfill my promise. I ain’t got much time ‘fore I gotta head back to the States, and I need ta do this.”

Tears clouded Francois’ eyes. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t…

“Where is Mathieu?”

The stranger sighed. “Please let me come in, Francois.”

Francois numbly stepped aside. The stranger looked at him sadly for a second before walking in. The door to the apartment closed with a resounding thunk.

Francois hadn’t even registered that he was falling until the stranger caught him. The strong, warm arms that held him up finally broke him, and he sobbed. Mathieu -his rock, his angel, his sun, his star- had flickered permanently out of his life. When would the monsters in Europe be satisfied? His lungs, his sanity, and now his Mathieu -the beasts in Europe had taken them all.

The stranger gently led him to sit down on the couch in the living room, where he cried for what felt like an eternity. When he ran out of fluids to cry, his body continued to convulse, which, of course, triggered another horrible coughing fit. The stranger ran to the kitchen for some water, but Francois refused the glass offered to him. He didn’t want water, he didn’t want this stranger; all he wanted was Mathieu.  
  


_Baby, the stars_  
_they are so far_  
_away_  
  


Francois’ head shot up from where it had been cradled in his hands. With wide eyes he stared at the stranger, who was standing beside their (or….just _his_ now) old record player.

“Wha…?”  
  


_And their beauty_  
_doesn’t hold me_  
_like you_  
  


The stranger covered his blue eyes with his wheat-blond bangs. “Matt bought this record when he first came to London. He said that no matter what, he was gonna find a way to get this to ya. I promised him that if anything happened to ‘im, I’d deliver this if he’d do somethin’ similar for me. I never wished to be here like this, but...well...there weren’t no way I was gonna break a promise ta Matt.”  
  


_But if we are forced apart_  
_do you think those lover stars_  
_would grant my_  
_simple wish_  
  


Francois shakily got to his feet. The stranger moved to help steady him again, but Francois put up his hand to let him know the help was unnecessary. The stranger respected the silent request and rested back on the wall next to the window. Once he was steady enough, Francois began to sway to the beat just as he had done with Mathieu five years earlier.  
 

_To cut me loose_  
_from this fated noose_  
_and lead me back to you?_  
_Oh, gallico amatoribus._  
  


The stranger watched as Francois got lost in the memories of the song. “Ya know,” he commented idly. “I really like astronomy, and I’ve been tryin’ to keep up-ta-date on new discoveries. There haven’t been many during the war, but someone did take a real powerful telescope, pointed it right at _Gallico_ , and discovered that it ain’t just one star, it’s two. Now people are tryin’ ta figure out if the ancients knew somethin’ we didn’t, since that old story ‘bout the lovers started up way before telescopes”

However, Francois didn’t hear anything the stranger had said. Instead, with his eyes closed and a gentle smile on his lips, he was able to immerse himself in the belief that Mathieu was holding him as he swayed.

_“So gentle swaying is enough?”_

_“It is perfect.”_

 

Day 100: Last Goodbye  
_Glacé Nord, Year 9_

 

A green circle covered in ruins lit up the tile of the Northern King’s throne room before Arthur Kirkland, the Queen of Magicae’s head Mage, appeared. The scene before him would always be imprinted in his mind long after that day had passed.

_“Mathieu!”_

In the doorway of the throne room lay Francois Bonnefoy with a sword through his gut. This was not at all surprising to Arthur. After all, he was the one who had put a spell on Mathieu to make him kill the dirty assassin once the Northern King had been slain. Once Francois had been killed and the Queen was rid of two nuisances, the spell would have erased Mathieu’s memories of the entire mission so that he would be able to live happily and guilt-free. The warrior never knew about the spell or the overall plan, so things should have gone smoothly.

But, clearly, they hadn’t.

Lying on top of Francois was Mathieu. When Arthur rushed over to him, he found that Mathieu was also a corpse. Arthur couldn’t make sense of it. How had Mathieu also died?

Arthur took a breath and stepped back. He had the magic to answer his own question.

_“Salire Tempore!”_

A green glow fell over the two bodies on the floor. The glow pulsed once, twice, and then spread throughout the room. Arthur watched as a green-hued image of Francois ran from where the Northern King lie dead toward the door. The door was opened, Mathieu was on the other side, and Arthur’s spell had possessed him just like it should have. What went wrong?

_“...Cher,”_ Francois’ image asked, clearly confused. _“What... what is wrong? Why do your eyes look like that?”_

Mathieu didn’t respond. He wasn’t in a state to.

_“Why will you not answer me?”_ Francois’ eyes fell to Mathieu’s drawn sword, and his body sagged. _“You...You are under a spell, aren’t you? Judging by the color of your eyes, I would say that damned Queen’s Mage did this to you…”_

Mathieu took a heavy step forward. Francois didn’t move away.

_“They...they never planned on letting me have my freedom, did they? I do not know why I expected any different -I did try to kill the Queen, after all. I should have lost my head years ago.”_

Mathieu took another step forward.

_“I am sure they did not tell you that this would end in my death. They knew you too well, they knew you would never kill unless you were forced like this. I wonder if you even knew about this curse.”_

To Arthur’s surprise, Francois closed the distance between them and cupped Mathieu’s cheek in his hand.

_“It will be alright, Cher. Do not fret about killing me. I have been living on borrowed time long before we met. Just…”_ He pressed their foreheads together. _“Thank you, mon amour. Thank you for making my last days mean something.”_

Francois pressed his lips against Mathieu’s. At first, Mathieu didn’t move. Sure enough, however, his right arm came up and he jabbed his blade through Francois’ gut. Francois made a sort of choking noise before slumping onto Mathieu. Mathieu’s face remained completely blank.

Suddenly, Mathieu’s left hand came up and started to feel around for something.

Francois weakly lifted his head. _“Ma...thieu… what... are...you…?”_

Mathieu grabbed something and held it up. Arthur could hardly make out what it was (a vial of some sort?), but it seemed like Francois recognized it immediately.

_“Mathieu...n….no….”_

Mathieu squeezed until the vial shattered in his hands. His hand was covered in blood and whatever liquid had been inside the container.

Francois let out a distressed moan and dropped his head back onto Mathieu’s shoulder. _“No...no, no, no, no, no...Mathieu...wh….why….?”_

Mathieu started to sway, and then the two fell into the position Arthur had found them in. Arthur was about to cancel the time spell, figuring he had seen all that he needed to, when a soft sound came from Mathieu.

_“F….Francois….”_

Francois eyes briefly widened. _“Ma...thieu…?”_

With his now-free right hand, Mathieu slowly reached down to grab Francois’ hand. _“Let’s...go...somewhere….warm…”_

Francois closed his eyes in apparent bliss. _“I think...I like...the cold...as long as... you...are there...to keep me...warm...”_

Arthur ended the spell. He couldn’t take anymore.

“I...I am sorry, Mathieu. We thought…” Arthur stopped the words coming out of his mouth and just shook his head. Nothing he said could make up for what had happened.

As he turned to leave, a new light lit up behind him.

He turned back around and found a soft golden light emitting from Mathieu’s body. All he could do was stare in awe as this light slowly receded to the center of Mathieu being until it finally popped out of him as a small glowing orb. The orb went straight to Francois’ body, disappeared inside of it, and then reappeared with another orb, this one about the same size, but with a blue tint. The two orbs spun around each other and lifted high into the air. The higher and closer they got, the more intense a third red glow became. When the red glow was just as intense as the other two, the orbs suddenly darted out of the room and through an open balcony window. Arthur ran after them, but he was only just able to catch a glimpse of them before they disappeared into the night sky.

He stared dumbfounded for a long time. That looked like light magic, but Alfred had never told him that his brother had the capability…

A twinkle amongst the stars caught his eye that, when he looked, took his breath away. Where before there had never been a star there was suddenly a bright red dot. Did they…? Could they have…?

“I never would have thought you would have taken the duty of keeping him from running off so seriously, Mathieu.”

The new star seemed to shine a tiny brighter in response.

Arthur shook his head. “Goodbye Gallico lovers…”

**Author's Note:**

> -Gallico Amatoribus is clearly as made up star. I know that a red dot in the sky would probably be a planet, not a star (or two very close stars, for that matter), but I never claimed to be a space nerd, just a history one. Anyway, for fictional purposes, perhaps just attribute the oddness of the star to...well, magic, I guess.  
> -“Gallico Amatoribus” is a very loose Latin translation for “French Lovers”.  
> If you have any questions about the story, feel free to message me either on Ao3 or Tumblr (I'm yamiheart on both).


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